Before The Walls Fall - Pastor Jonathan Simons

Devotional

Day 1: Flint Knives and Covenant Renewal

Before battle, God pauses to remind Israel of their covenant identity. At Gilgal, two million Israelites undergo circumcision with flint knives—a physical sign they belong to Yahweh. This act isn’t about strategy but surrender: before conquering Jericho, they must remember their covenant roots. The "Hill of Foreskins" becomes a raw marker of belonging, not achievement. God prioritizes relationship over results, anchoring them in 500-year-old promises. Waiting seasons refocus us on whose we are before what we do. [10:04]

So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. [...] Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.
(Joshua 5:2–3, 8–9, NIV)

Reflection: What tangible reminder (like circumcision) anchors you in God’s covenant love when progress stalls? How might this waiting season be renewing your identity as His before His plans for you?

Day 2: Passover in the Promise Land

Israel eats their first Passover meal in Canaan, tasting roasted grain from the land instead of manna. This meal isn’t nostalgia—it’s identity surgery. By remembering Egyptian slavery and wilderness survival, they confront who they are: redeemed people, not conquerors. God feeds them memory before momentum. The meal declares, “Your worth isn’t in tomorrow’s victory but yesterday’s rescue.” [16:09]

And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’
(Exodus 12:26–27, NIV)

Reflection: Where are you building identity on future achievements rather than Christ’s past redemption? How might celebrating His faithfulness soften your urgency for breakthrough?

Day 3: When Manna Stops, Harvest Begins

After 14,600 days of manna, Israel wakes to find no miracle bread—just Canaan’s crops. God hasn’t stopped providing; He’s upgraded their diet. Manna sustained nomads, but harvests feed settlers. The wilderness sign fades as promise-land reality dawns. Clinging to yesterday’s provision blinds us to today’s new miracles. [19:20]

The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.
(Joshua 5:11–12, NIV)

Reflection: What “manna” (a past season’s provision) are you still demanding? How might God be inviting you to taste His faithfulness in a new way today?

Day 4: The Commander Who Refuses Sides

Joshua confronts a sword-wielding stranger, expecting an ally or enemy. The Commander stuns him: “Neither.” Victory isn’t about God joining Israel’s cause, but Israel joining God’s. Joshua’s face hits the dirt—worship, not warfare, prepares him for Jericho. Surrender, not strategy, becomes the path to breakthrough. [27:04]

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence.
(Joshua 5:13–15, NIV)

Reflection: Are you seeking God’s endorsement for your plans or His presence to redefine them? What might kneeling instead of strategizing look like today?

Day 5: Holy Work in the Holding Pattern

Gilgal’s waiting wasn’t a delay but divine cultivation. Circumcision, Passover, and surrendered worship prepared Israel’s heart for Jericho’s walls. God uses waiting to do in us what He can’t do through us in motion. The same hands that rolled away Egypt’s shame (Gilgal) will topple Jericho—but first, they reshape His people. [33:54]

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:22–23, NIV)

Reflection: What inward work is God doing while you wait for outward change? How might this season be protecting you from future success without character?

Sermon Summary

Joshua 5 slows the action after the Jordan parts and before Jericho falls, because God pauses the conquest to work on the people he loves. God first renews the covenant through circumcision at Gilgal, right when momentum seems strongest and the enemies’ hearts have melted. The text makes the strange timing plain on purpose. Before soldiers march, Abraham’s sign returns and identity is re-marked into a new generation. Genesis 17 sits underneath the scene. God did all the talking, made all the promises, and even took the punishment. Circumcision becomes the reminder in their own bodies that they are not first conquerors or recipients of land, but “his people.” The pause says, remember whose you are before you swing a sword, remember the promise keeper before you look at the promise.

Then the calendar turns to Passover on Canaan’s soil. Passover becomes the first meal in the land, not a victory parade but a table. The meal re-roots identity in what God has already done, not in what Israel is about to do. Slaves were redeemed, the blood covered, the Lord brought them out. They have nothing to prove to earn a victory, because deliverance they did not earn already named them. Right there the manna stops. The provider does not change, the provision does. Wilderness bread gives way to the land’s grain, because the miracle that fit the last season cannot carry the next. The stop is not abandonment. It is a sign that they are no longer wanderers. New season, new miracle. Holding on to yesterday’s manna would make them miss today’s harvest.

Finally Joshua nears Jericho and lifts his eyes to the walls. History presses in, forty years of delay and graves for a decision he did not make. A warrior with a drawn sword stands there. “Are you for us or for our enemies?” Joshua asks. “Neither,” comes the answer. “As commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come.” The issue is not whether heaven is on Israel’s side, but whether Joshua is under heaven’s command. Joshua falls face down. Before the walls fall, Joshua falls. He does not get a blueprint. He gets presence, and that is enough. Faith has never been trusting the plan. Faith has always been trusting the one who holds the plan. Joshua 5 shows why God makes his people wait. He renews whose they are, who they are, and who is in charge, so that when the walls finally tumble, the people who walk through are ready.

Key Takeaways

1. Covenant comes before conquest [09:14] God marks identity before he mobilizes action. The pause at Gilgal is not a detour but a decision by God to remind his people they belong to him. When belonging is settled, striving can stop and obedience can start. The sword gets sheathed until the heart is sealed. [09:14]
2. Identity rests on finished deliverance [16:35] Passover in the land anchors who they are in what God already did. The table teaches that victory is never a résumé item, it is a remembrance item. Confidence grows, not from what someone can achieve next, but from the Redeemer who already named them his own. [16:35]
3. The provider stays, the provision shifts [20:08] Manna’s end is mercy, not neglect. God changes methods to match seasons, moving wanderers into stewards who plant and harvest. Clutching yesterday’s miracle can blind a person to today’s harvest, but trusting the unchanging giver frees hands to receive new gifts. [20:08]
4. Surrender outruns strategy [30:11] The commander’s “Neither” cuts through tribal thinking and puts heaven’s authority at the center. Joshua trades posture for prostration, plans for presence. When the one in charge is near, the lack of a playbook stops being a crisis and becomes worship. [30:11]
5. Waiting forms people for walls to fall [33:54] Gilgal time is not wasted time. God forges depth in the in-between that battle-day cannot build. The question is rarely God’s faithfulness, but whether trust will grow while answers are still out of sight. Preparation is the hidden mercy that keeps victory from undoing the victor. [33:54]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:33] - Memorial stones and momentum
[01:49] - Circumcision in the gap
[03:11] - God pauses the conquest
[03:34] - Life in the in-between
[05:39] - Work in you before through you
[09:14] - Covenant renewed at Gilgal
[10:29] - Genesis 17, promise and sign
[15:07] - First Passover in the land
[18:43] - Manna stops, provision changes
[21:34] - New season, new miracle
[26:16] - Joshua surveys Jericho
[29:32] - Neither, I take command
[30:11] - Joshua falls in worship
[32:49] - Prepared in waiting, not withheld

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Joshua 5:1-15 (ESV)
Genesis 17:1-14 (ESV)
Exodus 12:1-14 (ESV)

Observation questions

In Joshua 5:2-9, why did God command Israel to undergo circumcision after crossing the Jordan but before attacking Jericho?
What significance does the timing of the first Passover celebration in the Promised Land hold (Joshua 5:10-12)?
How does the commander of the Lord’s army redefine Joshua’s question, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” (Joshua 5:13-15)?

Interpretation questions

Why might God prioritize renewing the covenant (through circumcision) over immediate military action, even when Israel’s enemies were already afraid (Joshua 5:1)?
The manna stopped once Israel ate the produce of Canaan (Joshua 5:12). What does this reveal about how God’s provision adapts to new seasons?
The commander says, “Neither” when asked whose side he is on (Joshua 5:14). How does this challenge Joshua’s (and our) assumptions about God’s role in our battles?

Application questions

In seasons of waiting, how can you actively remind yourself of your identity as “God’s redeemed” rather than focusing solely on the breakthrough you’re seeking?
Have you ever clung to a past “miracle” or method of God’s provision (like manna) while missing His new provision for your current season? What might that look like today?
When facing a challenge, do you tend to ask, “God, are you for me?” or “Am I submitted to Your authority?” What would it look like to shift your posture from strategizing to surrendering?
The sermon notes that “holding on to yesterday’s manna can blind us to today’s harvest.” What is one outdated expectation or habit you need to release to embrace God’s current work?
Joshua fell facedown in worship before receiving any battle plans (Joshua 5:14). How could prioritizing God’s presence over a detailed “blueprint” change your approach to uncertainty?

Sermon Clips

27s

“Why did God make them wait? Why couldn't they just cross the Jordan and go straight into battle? I mean, after all, the enemies are melting with fear. Why couldn't God just give them the victory right away? Because God was preparing his people. Before the walls could fall, God reminded them whose they are, who they are, and who is in charge, who is leading. And that's how God works today.”

31s

“But I wonder if that's why some of us are frustrated in the waiting. We're asking God for a road map, and God is offering his presence. We're asking God for the details, and God is offering himself. Before the battle, there was surrender. Before the walls fell, Joshua fell. And maybe that's the whole point. Maybe God isn't withholding breakthrough from you. Maybe God isn't withholding the walls from falling from you. Maybe he's preparing you for it.”

32s

“The season has changed. And because you're in a new season, the provision has changed too. Sometimes for us today, sometimes we spend so much time looking for yesterday's manna that we miss today's harvest. We become attached to the way God used to work, the way God used to provide, the way God used to lead. And when the manna stops, we assume God has stopped providing.”

34s

“In other words, I'm not here to take sides. I'm here to take command. The issue is not whether the commander belongs to Joshua, it's whether Joshua belongs to the commander. And he hears this, and his response is so beautiful. Joshua five verse 14 says, then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence. That's the moment. This this is the moment. Joshua approaches this warrior as a leader. He leaves that encounter as a worshiper.”

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